Sorry no link to this story!! Apologise if its already been posted. It made my skin crawl!

A MAN who lived in his own âzooâ of lizards and insects was fatally bitten by a pet black widow spider â then eaten by the other creepy-crawlies.
Police broke in to Mark Voegelâs apartment to find spider Bettina along with 200 others, several snakes, a gecko lizard called Helmut and several thousand termites had gorged on his body.

Neighbours alerted police after becoming alarmed by the stink.

And horrified officers were met by a nightmare scene.

A police spokesman said: âIt was like a horror movie. His corpse was over the sofa.

âGiant webs draped him, spiders were all over him. They were coming out of his nose and his mouth.

âThere was everything there one could imagine in the world of reptiles.

âLarger pieces of flesh torn off by the lizards were scooped up and taken back to the webs of tarantulas and other bird-eating spiders.â

Loner Voegel, 30, never invited people back to his âjungleâ home, a small apartment in the German city of Dortmund.

Police described it as a cross between a botanical garden and the butterfly breeding ground in the serial killer movie The Silence Of The Lambs.

One tarantula had built a nest the size of a swallowâs in a corner of the ceiling.

Voegel also had a boa constrictor and several poisonous frogs from South America.

Spider expert and animal cruelty officer Gabi Bayer said he kept creatures âthat should never be allowed in a private homeâ.

She said: âHe had spiders so aggressive they are the equivalent of a pit-bull in the animal world.â

The reptiles were allowed to roam free in the flat.

The heating elements on two tanks containing spiders and their termite snacks had exploded and dislodged the metal tops allowing them to escape.

Voegel is thought to have been dead for between seven and 14 days.

A post-mortem will be carried out in the next few days. But authorities believe Bettina alone was responsible for Voegelâs death.

Sorry no link to this story!! Apologise if its already been posted. It made my skin crawl!

A MAN who lived in his own âzooâ of lizards and insects was fatally bitten by a pet black widow spider â then eaten by the other creepy-crawlies.
Police broke in to Mark Voegelâs apartment to find spider Bettina along with 200 others, several snakes, a gecko lizard called Helmut and several thousand termites had gorged on his body.

Neighbours alerted police after becoming alarmed by the stink.

And horrified officers were met by a nightmare scene.

A police spokesman said: âIt was like a horror movie. His corpse was over the sofa.

âGiant webs draped him, spiders were all over him. They were coming out of his nose and his mouth.

âThere was everything there one could imagine in the world of reptiles.

âLarger pieces of flesh torn off by the lizards were scooped up and taken back to the webs of tarantulas and other bird-eating spiders.â

Loner Voegel, 30, never invited people back to his âjungleâ home, a small apartment in the German city of Dortmund.

Police described it as a cross between a botanical garden and the butterfly breeding ground in the serial killer movie The Silence Of The Lambs.

One tarantula had built a nest the size of a swallowâs in a corner of the ceiling.

Voegel also had a boa constrictor and several poisonous frogs from South America.

Spider expert and animal cruelty officer Gabi Bayer said he kept creatures âthat should never be allowed in a private homeâ.

She said: âHe had spiders so aggressive they are the equivalent of a pit-bull in the animal world.â

The reptiles were allowed to roam free in the flat.

The heating elements on two tanks containing spiders and their termite snacks had exploded and dislodged the metal tops allowing them to escape.

Voegel is thought to have been dead for between seven and 14 days.

A post-mortem will be carried out in the next few days. But authorities believe Bettina alone was responsible for Voegelâs death.

It's more surprising that this chap didn't contract Salmonella with pet reptiles roaming freely. Yuck. Mereminx, your version of the story looks like the one printed by the Sun. It came out in Feb 2004 but in trying to track down a link I came across the following letter from a Sun reader:

IT would appear from your story about Mark Voegel, who was killed and eaten by his pet insects, that somebody got a bit carried away.

Termites eat tough vegetation and wood, so wouldn't have found Herr Voegel very attractive except as a temporary home. Black widow spiders would find it hard to break off any part of a human body and would be more interested in the termites.

Helmut the gecko would have probably been chasing the spiders. And unless Herr Voegel's other lizards were of the giant monitor-type, which do eat carrion, none of the other lizards would probably have gone for him either.

As for the snakes and the frogs, they would have found it impossible to do anything with such a large item.

It's more surprising that this chap didn't contract Salmonella with pet reptiles roaming freely. Yuck. Mereminx, your version of the story looks like the one printed by the Sun. It came out in Feb 2004 but in trying to track down a link I came across the following letter from a Sun reader:

Click to expand...

Sods law it was the Scum, not like them to blow things out of proportion. I got it via email, still reallyyyyy not pleasant regardless of the truth stretching!

I'm beyond understanding why on earth anyone would want a spider never mind any other creepy crawlies as pets hardly entertaining are they?